University Regulation 2
The Bradford Curriculum
This page summarises our academic regulations, Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Strategy, Bradford Curriculum architecture and approach to programme design and review. These form our core educational principles for taught awards across our academic portfolio, from foundational study to doctoral research.
Regulation 2 Undergraduate Awards 2024-2025
Regulation 7 Assessment 2024-2025
Regulation 8 External Examiners of Taught Programmes 2024-2025
Regulation 9 Postgraduate Taught Awards 2024-2025
Electronic submission of assessment via Canvas
Institutional Grading Criteria
Emergency Academic Regulations 2019-20
Temporary Academic Regulations 2020-21
The Bradford Curriculum (2022)
Guide for External Examiners of Taught Programmes (July 2024)
Academic regulations
Regulations are the specific rules governing the operation of the University of Bradford. Numbers 2 to 9 of these regulations are about learning, teaching and assessment. You can find others linked in the lists of regulations and ordinances published by the Legal and Governance department.
Regulations 2 and 9 are updated for new students starting study in August 2025.
For students who started their course before this date, check the Student Following Regulations link for the 2024-2025 versions of regulations 2, 7 and 9. We can also assist by email with alternative formats or older versions for Regulations 2, 7, 8 and 9 which are offered in Portable Document Format below.
Current academic regulations 2 to 9
University Regulations 3 to 8
University Regulation 9
Student-following academic regulations 2, 7 and 9
Use this link to view older versions of regulations which may apply depending on when students started their course.
The content in these regulations was reorganised in April 2025 for the new versions.
Our new Assessment, Marking and Feedback Policy (PDF) covers assessment rules and guidance which are not specific to undergraduate students or postgraduate taught students. In the event of a conflict between this policy and Regulation 7, the wording in the student-following Regulation 7 (from the year they started their course) will take precedence for students who started before August 2025.
More academic regulations guidance and policy
- Curriculum Architecture and Credit Practice Framework (2024) (PDF)
- Electronic submission of assessment on Canvas (PDF)
- Glossary of results letter assessment codes/flags (PDF)
- Institutional grading criteria (PDF)
- Emergency Academic Regulations 2019-20
- Temporary Academic Regulations 2020-21
- Student administration: Consideration of personal circumstances, also known as mitigation, extenuation and extensions (Student intranet, University login required)
- Disability Service: Learner support plans including reasonable adjustments (Student intranet, University login required)
University strategy: students first
We will develop accessible and flexible programmes of study that prioritise the needs, expectations, and aspirations of today’s students.
Read more about our "Students first" priority
Managing of learning and pastoral support
As a student or member of staff at Bradford, you will come across people with the following roles:
- Personal Academic Tutor
- Module Leader
- Programme Leader
Academic Quality and Teaching Excellence work to support the training and development of these roles. We facilitate resources and forums for academics whose work in these roles is so valuable to the Team Bradford student experience. More information about these elements is available on our SharePoint site (login required).
For students, Module Handbooks show who is responsible for your teaching and learning as well as the external examiner providing outside assurance, with a wealth of more knowledge on the Supporting your Learning at Bradford (login required) Canvas site. Academic Quality and Teaching Excellence also host some resources (login required) to help you get the most out of your Personal Academic Tutor.
Our students' academic experience
Students are essential in helping the University continually develop its learning & teaching environment and practices and we are committed to working in partnership with our students to enhance the academic experience at Bradford.
Students contribute to the continual improvement of the University from the moment they start their studies. The dedicated Student Insight team work with staff and students across the institution, conduct research and evaluation and provide specialist advice, activities and schemes for students and staff.
Through the Students' Union Officers and through Faculty Representatives, students are represented on all the University "top tier" committees such as the Learning and Teaching Committee, the Senate, and the Council. Working towards a culture of genuine partnership and co-creation, students can scrutinise all of the business of the University of Bradford that affects their learning and their student experience.
Students can also volunteer or apply for specific roles and opportunities to enhance learning, teaching, and student experience at the University, such as being on programme validation panels to improve our courses, mentoring other students to boost confidence or becoming Student Ambassadors to represent the University. These are known as Bradford Employability Awards and form an important and useful contribution to the Higher Education Achievement Record, a nationally transferable system to keep track of extracurricular student enhancement. Here are some of other the ways students feed into the enhancement of their academic experience:
University
- Giving feedback on University services as a stakeholder and customer
- Focus groups, interviews, and other research events
- Student-led meetings
- Listening events, and other opportunities for student/staff discussion
- Personal Academic Tutor
- Programme approval and review feedback
- Longitudinal surveys such the National Student Survey
- Group surveys such as module evaluations
- Voting for awards
- Becoming a Graduate Fellow through Bradford:Fellowships
Students' Union
- Voting for awards, for student reps and in other student elections and referendums
- Becoming a programme or Faculty Representative
- Take part in Student Staff Liaison Committees as a rep or by giving feedback to your rep
- Becoming a Students' Union officer or delegate.
- Student-led meetings
- Contribute ideas in discussions or forums
- Attend or be a member of UBU Forums
- Attend or be a member of UBU Council
- Attend and be a member of UBU Sports and Societies
- Getting involved in other Students' Union activities and initiatives
Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Strategy 2020-2026
Please be aware this is not an accessible document.
If you require this information in an alternative format, please contact our team. You can also read our Website Accessibility Statement.
What is the Bradford Curriculum?
It's a shared curriculum architecture scaffolding our programmes of study. Instead of mandating common learning outcomes or dusty final exams that have nothing to do with the degree as a whole, we let our programme teams implement its principles however they think works best for the subject, discipline or professional practice. For example, one accredited learning or assessment activity may satisfy several Bradford Curriculum principles.
The Bradford Curriculum starts from the premise that all students are welcomed, valued and have potential to thrive and succeed at the University of Bradford. We want to instil a passion in our students for being the ones who will make a difference as subject experts, highly effective employees/entrepreneurs, and enterprising citizens.
Dimensions and principles
Learning, teaching and assessment should strive to be:
- Programme-centric: coherent, challenging, progressive and co-owned.
- Liberated: accessible, empowering, representative, decolonising and stimulating.
- Research-engaged: inspirational, systematic, developmental and collaborative.
- Future-focused: enterprising, experiential, authentic and flexible.
Programmes are self-assessed by a curriculum scorecard which defines expectations for high-quality academic experience for each of the principles. The scorecard is used within our academic portfolio lifecycle to help manage risk and promote enhancement.
Staff course teams implementing the Bradford Curriculum are supported by professional education developers, a series of programme design workshops and an online hub of teaching resources:
- Developing Your Teaching At Bradford (Staff Canvas)
- The Bradford Curriculum (2023 PDF)
Make a difference!
We want to be known as the place to make a difference. That's why an identifiable element to integrate, consolidate and apply learning through a student-defined lens is evident at each stage of a course.
Examples include formative research projects for students to develop research skills, modules where you learn to build and manage projects of increasing complexity and depth, and collaborations between computing students and social scientists on deploying AI models.
Make a difference activities that are not credit bearing can often be recognised on the Higher Education Achievement Record, including our endorsed Bradford Employability Award schemes. (Student Intranet)
We draw on these co-curricular and extra-curricular activities to develop Bradford Qualities so that our students leave us as individuals who are:
- Confident: articulate, proactive and reflective.
- Connected: collaborative, inclusive and networking.
- Critical: analytical, communicative and inquisitive.
- Creative: adaptive to change, receptive to new ideas and responsible.
Academic portfolio lifecycle
As an English university operating since 1966, the University of Bradford is authorised to design and award our own provision, by Royal Charter and through British government learning provider registration.
A wide range of reference points and sector-recognised standards inform the design and content of our provision. These include the Office for Students Framework, the QAA Quality Code, Framework for Higher Education Qualifications, Subject Benchmark Statements, Skills England occupational standards, specialist subject accrediting bodies such as EFMD and our own regulations and policies: the Bradford Curriculum, the Credit Practice Framework, Team Bradford Charter and more.
Through our programme monitoring, review and development processes, we deliver on our commitments to ensure that our programmes are well-designed and:
- Provide all students with the support they need to succeed in and benefit from their University studies.
- Enable the achievement of all students to be reliably assessed.
- Deliver outcomes for students that are recognised by relevant sectors and employers.
- Meet and exceed the high standards expected from English higher education.
This whole-portfolio approach to project manage our courses takes the form of a continuous programme lifecycle checked at six gateways: ideas, strategic alignment and market assessment ("phase 1"), student experience ("phase 2"), operationalisation and ongoing programme monitoring ("phase 3").
| Lifecycle Stage | The Course Is... | Stage Description and Considerations |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway 0: Ideation | An idea of an idea | Informal discussions and plans before development starts. Look at data, challenge assumptions and structure thoughts. |
| Gateway 1: Strategic Fit | An idea | Show why a course could be great for our aims and objectives. Compare to University vision, positioning and strengths. |
| Gateway 2: Business Case | A proposal | Bring in marketing and finance to see if it works: fees, costs, resources and opportunities. |
| Gateway 3: Student Journey | A design | Specify a high quality academic experience for students and staff. Look at standards, quality, pedagogy, partnerships and services. |
| Gateway 4: Assess Readiness | On the shelf | Make assumptions from approval real to start delivery. Flesh out learning materials, workload management and launch plans |
| Gateway 5: Risk Based Support | Being delivered | Enhanced monitoring to establish high quality. Respond to challenges, build a working team and deliver the plan. |
| Gateway 6: Steady State Support | Being delivered | Lighter touch health checks for business as usual. Maintain quality, promote good practice and continually improve the course. |
Find out more: visit the LTQE academic portfolio lifecycle intranet (University login required)
How we manage programme changes
A programme specification is required for all programmes. It must include learning outcomes for any interim or exit awards, in addition to the final/target award, and be a reasonably true record of what will be delivered for the year listed.
Academics must ensure the programme specification is clear about any specific regulatory requirements or special requirements that must be met to gain the award, over and above successful completion of the modules; for example, placement requirements or professional body examinations; and commit to deliver the programme as specified to the best of their ability.
Modules and course details may still change as detailed by our regulations. The University reserves the right to alter or withdraw courses, services and facilities under some circumstances and to amend Ordinances, Regulations, fees and charges as detailed in your Student Contract. Unless there is no alternative, we will not make substantive changes to programmes detailed in Programme Specifications without student consent.
We work towards continuous improvement and actively seek to change programmes for the better in-year where students raise issues and concerns (through their Course Rep or the Students Union). These meetings can take place during UCAS application periods or over the summer. Students should enquire as to the up-to-date position when applying for their course of study and when re-enrolling. For more detail about your rights as a student at Bradford and our responsibilities related to course changes, see Sections F, G and H of your Student Contract.
From the UoB Student Protection Plan:
We regularly review our programmes to ensure that their content is current, relevant, aligned to Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body requirements as appropriate, and to ensure that we are offering the best possible learning experiences for students. As part of this, it is very likely that we will make changes to modules within programmes. We believe that this is beneficial to students, ensuring that their programmes are up to date, linked to innovative research and provide the best possible overall experience. Changes are carefully monitored to ensure they are only made in the best interests of students or to ensure regulatory or legal compliance.